Memo details lawyer’s plan for Trump to overturn loss
A lawyer pushing the baseless claim of massive fraud in the 2020 election urged former US president Donald Trump to overturn his loss through steps that would be viewed as "martial law," according to a memo published online on Saturday by The New York Times.
Measures that attorney William Olson proposed Trump take included replacing the acting attorney general if he refused to contest the vote in the US Supreme Court and naming a new White House counsel to identify powers that Trump could use "to ensure a fair election count," the memo showed.
Olson appeared to suggest those powers included ordering "sampling from lists of registered voters," the memo showed.
"Our little band of lawyers is working on a memorandum that explains exactly what you can do," Olson wrote to Trump in the memo, which was dated December 28, 2020. "The media will call this martial law, but ... that is 'fake news' - a concept with which you are well familiar."
The memo obtained by the Times revealed for the first time Olson's role in efforts by right-wing actors outside the White House to convince Trump to overturn the victory of his Democratic foe, Joe Biden, that were opposed by Justice Department leaders and White House lawyers.
Olson joined the legal team of one of those outside actors, Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, after Trump left office.
The Times reported that a person familiar with the work of the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol said the panel was aware of Olson's memo and was exploring his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 vote.
Measures that attorney William Olson proposed Trump take included replacing the acting attorney general if he refused to contest the vote in the US Supreme Court and naming a new White House counsel to identify powers that Trump could use "to ensure a fair election count," the memo showed.
Olson appeared to suggest those powers included ordering "sampling from lists of registered voters," the memo showed.
"Our little band of lawyers is working on a memorandum that explains exactly what you can do," Olson wrote to Trump in the memo, which was dated December 28, 2020. "The media will call this martial law, but ... that is 'fake news' - a concept with which you are well familiar."
The memo obtained by the Times revealed for the first time Olson's role in efforts by right-wing actors outside the White House to convince Trump to overturn the victory of his Democratic foe, Joe Biden, that were opposed by Justice Department leaders and White House lawyers.
Olson joined the legal team of one of those outside actors, Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, after Trump left office.
The Times reported that a person familiar with the work of the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol said the panel was aware of Olson's memo and was exploring his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 vote.
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